Lucinda Wiley

Most of us were taught to look at behaviour on the surface. The meltdowns, the refusals, the “won’t do it”, the intense focus on one thing. But when you are raising a neurodivergent child, that surface view does not help you understand what is really going on. It leaves you feeling as if you are constantly reacting without ever reaching the root of what your child needs. The Deep Lens Model offers a gentler way of looking. It reminds us that every behaviour has a story behind it, and when we...

Last October, I walked into the HEAT competition run by Ceteris without knowing quite what the day would bring. I was there to talk about ExploreBuddy, to share the vision, and to connect with other founders. What I didn’t expect was to meet someone who would end up shaping one of the most meaningful collaborations we have had so far. That someone was Charlene, the director of Mums the Word . It wasn’t a big dramatic moment. It wasn’t a networking pitch. It was simply two women, both...

When people talk about neurodevelopmental conditions, the conversation almost always goes in the same direction: speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, sensory needs, behaviour strategies, waiting lists, assessments. All important. All valid. But there’s a whole part of the picture that barely gets mentioned even though it affects almost every neurodivergent person I’ve ever met, including myself. Mental health. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “crisis” way. But in the quiet,...